New lingerie entrant Hunkemöller to have four stores in Indian by end-March

Hunkemöller, which opened its first store at Delhi’s DLF Promenade mall on December 19, will open two more outlets in the National Capital Region in the next two months.Prabha Raghavan | ETRetail | Updated: December 28, 2015, 15:56 IST

FILE PHOTO: The company is looking at malls in Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai as well to open stores but hasn’t finalised any yet.New Delhi: Dutch lingerie brand Hunkemöller, which recently opened shop in India, will have four stores running by the end of this financial year, said a top executive at the company.

Hunkemöller, which opened its first store at Delhi’s DLF Promenade mall on December 19, will open two more outlets in the National Capital Region in the next two months, said India business head Puneet Behal. It will also be launching an outlet in Bengaluru within this time, he added.

The company is looking at malls in Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai as well to open stores but hasn’t finalised any yet.

“In existing malls, it’s difficult for space to come up and we’re very selective in the location that we choose,” said Behal. While Hunkemöller’s store in DLF Promenade is around 800 sq ft, its upcoming outlets in Noida and Gurgaon will be around 1250-1300 sq ft, he added.

Footfalls at the brand's first store on opening day were 30% higher than the company's expectations, Behal claimed. “We are trending at close to 40% in terms of conversion, which is fairly healthy for a mall store.”

Hunkemöller, as part of its expansion plans to emerging markets like India and China, entered a long-term franchise agreement with Reliance Brands earlier this year. The 130-year-old brand’s Indian entry also marks the growth of Reliance Brand’s portfolio to include intimate apparel.

“Lingerie is a very lucrative segment, largely because upwards of 95% of it is unorganised,” said Behal. Organised Indian lingerie players mostly have multibrand presence and lack in retail presence, he added.

“From the experience that we are offering, our conversion rates will be way higher,” said Behal.

Private equity firm Carlyle Group’s recent acquisition of Hunkemöller will not have any impact on its franchise agreement with Reliance, Behal said. “They are very clear that the same management is going to run. They buy into the vision of the brand and how they want to grow it.”

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